Wouldn't it have been much more compelling to see a woman who's lost a baby giving birth to a healthy baby boy, then watch a woman who's already lost a baby lose yet another baby then attempt to commit suicide?

Uh, no. That would be a yawner. If I want uplifting, unrealistic stories with boatloads of useless critters, I'll tune to the Hallmark Movie Channel or one of the dozen religious channels on my cable.

We all know that baby is going to end up alive and somewhere under Stefano's/Kristen's/ Victor's secret control, probably revealed sometime during November Sweeps. I wonder if the show will be able to keep yet another Leann Hunley return under wraps.

Sorry, but I disagree that it's a sure thing the baby is still alive somewhere. The reason I have my serious doubts is that MarDar created that baby and Tomlin was determined to undo as much of what MarDar started as he could get away with. He did a pretty convincing job of making sure the audience knew the baby was dead because he didn't want it to be left as an open question. He could have taken it out with Daysaster, but he chose to quickly build a convoluted way to "kill two birds" and use the baby's death as a way to provide angst for Dannifer, one of his favorite pairings. Either way, the baby never really stood a chance when it comes to Tomlin's poison pen.

So the only way that baby might show up alive someday is if Tomlin gets fired and some other writer decides to undo what he's undone and put the baby back in the picture. But since MarDar are unlikely to return, that's a long shot.

ETA: Tomlin could get pressured by his bosses at some point to bring the baby back. But that would mean TPTB were listening to viewer feedback -- again making it a long shot.